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England

EPL Season End Predictions!

March 19, 2012 — by Sean

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We took a close look at the remaining fixtures in this season's Barclays Premiership, and we are unimpressed. Surely the Manchesters won't simply run away with the league, and there's got to be some sort of shakeup between third, fourth and the also rans between now and the middle of May... But apparently, no. As you'll see in our carefully crafted points-tracking chart below, everyone will keep their current standing, though it won't be without a few bums becoming squeaky. We'll revisit our predictions each week through the remainder of the season to see just how right we were. Click on the chart for an expanded view, and click on the expanded view for an even more expanded view, blindy.  

Champions LeaguePreviewSchedule

Champions League Today: We Choose APOEL over Barcelona

March 7, 2012 — by Suman — 1

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Yes, there are two more 2nd leg Round of 16 matches today, but unlike yesterday's Super Tuesday matches, we probably won't tune in for either of today's two matches.  But if you must, check here & here for your local listings for today's fixtures: More » Barcelona 20:45 Leverkusen Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR) – Stadium: Camp Nou, Barcelona (ESP) More » APOEL 20:45 Lyon Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP) – Stadium: GSP Stadium, Nicosia (CYP) Why not? Well, we do have other (not necessarily better; just other) things to do beside watch football on a weekday afternoon.  Moreover, the Barcelona-Bayer Leverkeusen matchup is pretty much in the bag for Barça.  They won 3-1 at the BayArena in North Rhine-Westphalia, meaning that the Werkself ("Factory squad") will have to win by 3 goals (or win by 2 while scoring more than 3) at the Camp Nou.  Unlikely. It will be interesting to see if  APOEL can continue their

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Champions LeagueCommentary

Super Tuesday Results in London and Lisbon

March 7, 2012 — by Suman

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We gathered at CultFootball HQ yesterday afternoon to watch Super Tuesday results roll in. Although there had been some noise about opting for the more closely contested matchup in Lisbon, we went with the bigger-name but more lopsided faceoff in London.  AC Milan had destroyed and embarrassed Arsenal 4-0 in the first leg at the San Siro a few weeks ago ("the Milan massacre"), and although there were historical precedents for a 2nd leg comeback against Milan, we thought it unlikely. But whereas Robinho and "the mustached, cheesy-nightclub-predator-looking" Ibrahimovic could do no wrong in the 1st leg, somehow they were ineffective and wasteful this time around.  And whereas Milan's defense had looked nearly impregnable against Arsenal's flaccid attack in Italy, they coughed up chances which Arsenal finished.  Koscielny emphatically headed in a tremendous whipped corner from the Ox in the 7', and the game was on.  Then in the 26', Milan's Thiago

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Champions LeaguePreviewSchedule

Champions League Today: Arsenal-Milan or Benfica-Zenit?

March 6, 2012 — by Suman — 1

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  Another Champions League matchday is upon us: 2 matches today and 2 more tomorrow, 2nd legs of Round of 16 matchups, which means that by the end of Wednesday 4 of the 8 quarterfinalists will have been set. Here's the fixture list for today--both matches kick off, as usual, at 20:45CET (= 2:45pmET/11:45amPT for those of us in the US): Lineups » TV info Arsenal 20:45 Milan Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN) – Stadium: Arsenal Stadium, London (ENG) Lineups » TV info Benfica 20:45 Zenit Referee: Howard Webb (ENG) – Stadium: Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Lisbon (POR)   Even though Arsenal-Milan is the marquee matchup in terms of  some of us here at CultFootball HQ are leaning towards watching Benfica-Zenit instead. After watching O Classico (i.e., Benfica-Porto) last Friday, we've decided Benfica is the Portuguese team we'll support (though unfortunately when we went to Lisbon a few years

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EnglandItalyPreviewScheduleSpain

What To Watch Today (Besides Spurs-ManUtd): It’s Quite a Derby Day

March 4, 2012 — by Suman

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Most attention and eyes will turn to Spurs-ManUtd today, but it's also quite a derby day.  A triple-header of hotly contested derbies with long histories, and turns out all of them are consquential to the standings in their respective leagues: Tyne-Wear Derby: Newcastle vs. Sunderland (7amET, FSP): #6 in the Premier League hosts #8.  Newcastle had been as high as 3rd as late as December, playing an attractive brand of football built around a contingent of Frenchmen, which gave rise to talk of a "French Revolution" on Tyne, led by deep-lying playmaker Yohan Cabaye.  Sunderland meanwhile sank to close to the relegation zone, before sacking Steve Bruce and replacing him with Martin O'Neill.  They've since remarkably resurrected themselves, to the point that they would close the gap with their rivals to only 3 points with an away victory today. Derby della Capitale: Roma vs. Lazio (9amET, FSC & ESPN3.com): The two Roman

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EuropePreviewSchedule

If You’re Going To Watch One Primeira Liga Match All Season…

March 2, 2012 — by Suman — 1

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...make it O Clássico, "arguably the most important match in Portuguese football," kicking off later today at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (aka the Estádio da Luz): SL Benfica vs. FC Porto, 3:15pmET (available via ESPN3.com in the US; see here for other TV listings) Not only is it a classic and heated Portugese rivalry, the two clubs are currently battling it out at the top of the Primeira Liga table--even on points with identical records, with Porto ahead on goal differential. Here's what the top of the table looks like: Team Pld W D L F A Diff Pts 1 FC Porto 20 15 4 1 47 13 34 49 2 Benfica 20 15 4 1 47 16 31 49 3 SC Braga 20 14 4 2 42 16 26 46 4 Sporting CP 20 11 5 4 31 16 15 38 5 Marítimo 20 11 5 4

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EuropeGermanyPreviewScheduleSpain

What To Watch Among All These International Friendlies Today

February 29, 2012 — by Suman

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It's yet another FIFA day of international friendlies today.  The ones involving European teams are getting more interesting, as we're just a handful of months away from Euro2012 kicking off in Poland/Ukraine, and hence managers are starting to sort out their squads. Given that, here are a handful of matches that might actually be worth watching (all times ET, with US TV/streaming info via WaPo's SoccerInsider): Switzerland vs. Argentina: 2:30pmET, GolTV Italy vs. USA: 2:30pmET, ESPN2, Galavision, ESPN3.com Germany vs. France: 2:45pmET, ESPN3.com (tape at 6 p.m. on ESPN Deportes) England vs. Netherlands: 3pmET, Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Deportes Spain vs. Venezuela 3:30pmET, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com Here are some reasons why these matches: Switzerland vs. Argentina: We got interested in the Swiss squad last week--in particular that they've got a contingent of ethnic Albanian kids born in Kosovo around the time Yugoslavia was slipping into civil war.  We came across this from watching

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EnglandItalyPreviewScheduleSpain

What To Watch This Weekend (Feb 25-26): Milan-Juve, North London Derby

February 25, 2012 — by Suman — 3

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Saturday Feb 25 Italy, AC Milan vs. Juventus, 2:30pmET (FSC, ESPN3.com):  Could be the match that decides the Scudetto.  These two are the top of the Serie A table, separated by just a point (although Juve has a game in hand). Can La Vecchia Signora go into San Siro and beat the defending champions? A prominent subplot: this is aging midfielder Andrea Pirlo's return to Milan, to play against the club where he spent a decade as the premier deep-lying playmaker in Serie A (and perhaps in the world). Spain, Espanyol vs. Levante 4pmET (ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com): Yet another match pivotal in the bunched-up race for 4th place in La Liga.  Espanyol is tied for 4th with Athletic Bilbao (33 points), while Levante (and Atletico Madrid) are just a point behind them. We wrote last weekend about Espanyol's youthful talent.   Sunday Feb 26 England, Arsenal vs. Spurs 8:30amET (FSC): The North

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